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For
Immediate Release: |
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For
Further Information Contact: |
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October
6, 2005
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Office
of The Attorney General
-
Peter C. Harvey,
Attorney General
Division
of Consumer Affairs
- Kimberly Ricketts, Director
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Jeff
Lamm, Kara Wood
973-504-6327
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Monmouth
County Furniture Store Agrees to Pay Customer
Restitution and Penalty to Settle Lawsuit
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NEWARK
— A Monmouth County furniture store
has agreed to pay $27,618 to consumers
and $75,000 in civil penalties to settle
a lawsuit that alleged non-delivery of
merchandise, sale of defective merchandise
and pricing misrepresentation, State Attorney
General Peter C. Harvey and Consumer Affairs
Director Kimberly Ricketts announced.
The defendants in this case are William
Neumann, Cabbage Rose Ltd. store in Fair
Haven, and Chelsea Manor Unlimited, which
sells furniture on the Internet at www.chelseamanor.com,
www.classichousefurniture.com and www.cabbageroseltd.com.
Neumann, who is the owner of the Cabbage
Rose Ltd. store and Chelsea Manor Unlimited,
agreed to specific actions governing the
conduct of his business, under the Consent
Order to resolve the State’s lawsuit.
Those actions include advertising, furniture
delivery and refunds.
"We brought legal action to help
consumers who allegedly were wronged and
this agreement sets things right, both
for these customers and for future shoppers,"
Acting Governor Richard J. Codey said.
"Bottom-line, retailers who aren’t
honest and above-board with their customers
had better rethink how they do business."
Under the Consent Order, the defendants
agreed to:
- Not
engage in any unfair or deceptive acts
or practices in the conduct of their
business;
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Provide consumers with an estimate containing
all material provisions of the transaction
including the price for each item, complete
description of each item and a date
for delivery, prior to entering into
a sales contract;
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Not depict special offers on the web
site without clearly and conspicuously
posting any limitations or exclusions
on those offers;
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Not make false or misleading representations
of fact about the reasons for, existence
or amount of price reductions;
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Not make any false or misleading representations
in advertisements about the availability
of a warranty;
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Include in invoices a statement which
includes a date for delivery approved
by the consumer;
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Not inform customers who received defective
or non-conforming merchandise that their
policy is ‘no refunds’;
and
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Respond to a customer who requests a
refund within one business day and provide
a refund within 30 days of the consumer‘s
request;
"The
laws governing the sale and delivery of
furniture in New Jersey are clear,"
Attorney General Harvey said. "Merchants
must be honest about their prices and
must deliver the goods promised on the
date promised. We will not tolerate companies
that fail to follow state laws."
The defendants will have to pay an additional
$100,000 penalty if they do not comply
with the terms of the Consent Order, fail
to pay restitution to the identified customers,
or in the future violate the State’s
Consumer Fraud Act, Advertising Regulations,
Furniture Regulations, Refund Policy Act
or other consumer protection statutes.
"Whatever happened to the customer
is always right?" asked Director
Ricketts. "In New Jersey, we demand
that businesses adhere to the law and
serve the consumer, and Chelsea Manor
certainly didn’t meet either of
these standards. Under this agreement,
future customers will get what they pay
for, or there will be additional consequences
for this company."
Any consumer complaints received by Consumer
Affairs through May 20, 2007 will be forwarded
to the defendants. Within 30 days of receipt
of the complaint, a written response is
required to be sent to the consumer with
a copy going to Consumer Affairs.
Deputy Attorney General Jonathan D. Rudolph
represented the State in this matter.
The Somerset and Monmouth County (Consumer
Affairs Local Assistance (CALA) offices
also assisted with the investigation.
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